The telescope could be used for other purposes even if it can no longer track down planets.

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Its mission was supposed to be over by now, but last year, NASA agreed to keep Kepler running through 2016

Even if it can no longer search for planets, it's not useless. And I think it says something very optimistic that we're disappointed that it has failed after its mission was supposed to be over. Here's hoping they do keep using it.

It's funny how we got so used missions that have gone way beyond their designed specifications (e.g., the Mars rovers, Voyagers, Cassini, etc.) that we are now disappointed when a mission only lasts as long as it was supposed to.

And I think it says something very optimistic that we're disappointed that it has failed after its mission was supposed to be over.

Actually, what it mostly says is that estimating the useable lifetime of something as specialized as a spacecraft is basically little more than a WAG. When you can't reasonably estimate something you need to underestimate it to reduce liability.

Besides, it isn't as if all space probes have exceeded their life expectancy. Earthlings went through a pretty long period where every probe to Mars failed before their life expectancy.

Already well past its expected lifetime, the 9 1/2-year-old Kepler had been running low on fuel for months. Its ability to point at distant stars and identify possible alien worlds worsened dramatically at the beginning of October, but flight controllers still managed to retrieve its latest observations. The telescope has now gone silent, its fuel tank empty.